BAMBOLIM: With Health Minister Laxmikant Parsekar stating that his dream is to see heart transplant being performed in the GMC opened up a debate over the need of enacting legislation in this direction.
“My dream is to see that one day heart transplant will be done in the GMC,” Parsekar said while addressing a gathering on the occasion of World Heart Day at GMC on Thursday.
However, Dr Shirish Borkar said for this to happen, the government would have to enact a suitable legislation. But in the same tone, Dr Borkar quipped on the need to have heart transplant facility when the focus should be on providing the basic healthcare facilities. “Heart transplant is among the easiest of surgeries but a costly affair, which is not a priority as of now,” Dr Borkar added and informed that the aim is to address day-to-day issues.
Speaking on organ donation, Dr Borkar said the media can plan an important role in creating awareness in this direction. “It will be a great boon for the society if the media creates awareness on organ donation,” he said.
GMC Dean Dr Pradeep Naik informed that the GMC has got its own eye bank and has received 1,400 prospective donors who have pledged their eyes.
“In the last year and a half, we collected about 26 eyes, of which two were utilized and the rest given to a Pune eye bank due to lack of recipients,” he added.
